


A line in the sand

by TrishaCollins



Series: Babysitting And Other Royal Duties [11]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cheese and toast for the baby, Cor is really trying, Gen, Prompto has his dad wrapped around his finger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 03:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18002765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishaCollins/pseuds/TrishaCollins
Summary: Prompto's mother has some trouble adjusting, Prompto has made up his mind where he belongs, Cor is still resisting.





	A line in the sand

Cor didn't hate Prompto's adoptive parents. They were trying. (His patience, occasionally, no matter how often he told himself they were good people who just didn't know how to handle a baby.)

But he didn't hate them. He disliked them often. He had apparently swore about them the last time he was drunk and Prompto toddled through his door, reaching to be picked up like he hadn't just somehow made his way through three miles of Subway on his own, not to mention navigate three stories of stairs or reaching the button on the elevator. He didn't remember much about that night, but Clarus had reported it all later.

His mother was starting at him, lower lip wobbling, and eyes watery.

He hated dealing with women crying.

She had only been here three minutes. 

Surely there was something more to this than he was seeing? 

Prompto was hiding against his shoulder, arms wrapped tight around his neck. 

"I don't know why he keeps doing this, Mr. Leonis. I don't. I don't know why he doesn't love me." 'Like he loves you' went unsaid this time, but she had sobbed it on the phone when he'd called her earlier to announce where Prompto was. But when she had gotten here, she had taken Prompto for only a moment, and then she had pushed him back, trembling all over. 

Clarus thought she was having marital problems and wanted him to fix them.

Clarus was an ass.

"Give him time to settle." He tried, keeping his voice level. “Mrs. Argentum, you have to understand that Prompto has been through a great deal. It is not that he does not care for you.”

Really he didn't care about this woman outside of her ability to care for Prompto, which was their agreement. They benefitted from having Prompto as a son, from having him as a sponsor for the baby. Money, preferred housing, support.

That was what had been offered. That was what they had accepted.

And in return, they were to love and look after the child. 

The tears started, a little choked sound following them. "It's been months, M-mr. Leonis. It's been months and he still wants you." The last words were a wail. “He was supposed to LOVE me.” 

 

Prompto covered his ears with his hand, whimpering in that same heart breaking way that he had since he'd found it.

It took far more restraint than it should have not to slam the door in her face. 

"He talks to you. He tries new food for you. Not for me." She was sobbing now, hands covering her face.

"Look." He trailed off, wanting to order her away.

She was upsetting the kid with her wailing.

"Calm yourself." He settled on. "There is no reason to take this personally. He is a child, barely more than an infant, you cannot expect the depth of emotion you might from an older person."

The woman hiccupped, and wiped at her face with the back of her hand. "I can't do this, Mr. Leonis." She whined.

It was far less tolerable coming from an adult woman.

He stared at her, aghast at the scene she was preforming. Was she hysterical or merely crazy? What was he meant to do with her? 

She blew her nose on her sleeve. 

Had Clarus put her up to this?

This...sobbing woman at his doorway. He was not meant to have a sobbing woman in his doorway. Especially not one almost throwing her baby at him. Prompto had his eyes squeezed shut, and his fingers jammed in his ears. Was this a common occurrence? The adoption agency had assured him that the Argentums had been thoroughly vetted, deemed stable enough to look after a young child or an infant. They would not have been signed up to the list if they were not. 

He stroked Prompto's hair. "Would you like me to watch him?" Perhaps the stress of having a new baby in the house had simply undone her in some unpredictable way? He could alleviate that easily, Prompto was never any trouble at all. He had…well, he had tasks, but none he could not adapt to include the child in some way. 

She nodded, still teary, blotchy and snotty. 

"Ok. I can do that." He gave her an awkward nod, ready to retreat.

"Thank you, Mr. Leonis." She grabbed his hand, wet sleeve brushing against his wrist.

He didn't make a face, but it took effort. "Of course." 

 

If Clarus had put her up to this, he was going to light him on fire. 

He shut the door – gently, he refused to allow himself to slam it no matter how satisfying the physical barrier between him and that…odd woman felt when it was finally present. 

“I’ll call Regis, and get someone else assigned to the retreat.” He told the child, when Prompto had uncovered his ears enough that he was sure he would listen. “And then you and I can look over the troops.” 

Prompto nodded, lower lip wobbling.

“Do you want a snack?”

Another little nod, slightly more enthusiasm, less lip wobble. 

“Well, then we’ll make a snack and forget that she ever stopped by.” He informed him, settling the child on his hip and taking him into the kitchen.

“Twos.” Prompto said softly. “An’ chiz.” 

“Toast and cheese?” He questioned. 

Prompto nodded. 

“White cheese or yellow cheese?” 

“Ywo.” Everything was Ws lately, any consonant or repeating noise. 

“Yellow cheese and toast, sounds like a plan.” He pulled down the bread, slicing two pieces from the loaf and dropping them into the toaster. “Should we do tea with our toast or juice?”

“Jws.” Prompto said. 

“Very well.” He got the juice out, filling Prompto’s cup and settling the child with his sippy against his shoulder. “While you eat your toast, can I call his majesty?” 

Prompto nodded. 

The toast popped, and he applied the cheese and butter, placing it under the broiler to melt the cheese. 

He put Prompto down in the booster seat that had appeared in his apartment days ago, shortly after Prompto’s illness. “Now, I will be in the next room. Do not climb down on your own.” He put the toast on the table, ruffling the child’s hair.

Prompto picked up the toast, chewing on a corner of it. 

“Is your tooth coming in still?”

Prompto grinned up at him, displaying his one tooth half emerged from his gums. Addy said the teeth would probably get delayed, and it was good that even the one was coming in already. But still, Noctis had a mouth full of pointy teeth according to his minders. Prompto only had one. 

“Enjoy your toast.” 

He stepped out of the room, keeping Prompto in line of sight as he pulled his cell out, mentally preparing what he wanted to say before he hit call. 

“Clarus.”

“It’s Cor.” 

“Well, I gathered, given that it was your number calling mine. Unless this is a ransom call, in which case I don’t want him back.” Clarus sounded amused.

“Ha ha. You’re hilarious. Look, we need to assign someone else to go with Regis and Noctis to the retreat.”

Silence for a moment, Clarus clearly working that out in his head. “Lady problems?”

“If you put her up to it, I’ll kill you.” He responded.

“Put her up to it? I don’t talk to her unless the kid is involved. What did she do?”

“Sobbed and made a scene on my doorstep because Prompto doesn’t love her.”

“Ifrit’s balls, that woman is a menace. How’s the kid?” 

“Eating cheese and toast, and humming Choco Joe’s theme song to himself.” Prompto was also bouncing a little in his seat, still chewing on the toast. But he saved that for himself. “I told her I’d watch him. She was wailing. He got out again.”

“When we find the tracker he’s somehow planted in your ass, we need to get it on the server.” Clarus commented. “He is better at tracking you than most of the high command.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ll tell Regis? I know he wanted me to go.”

“I mean, I can already tell you he is just going to tell you to bring Prompto along. Noct’s nurse is going, I was thinking of taking Gladio. He likes taking the kids to walk the starfall.” 

He restrained a sigh. “I can’t take him out of the city.”

“Bullshit, you just don’t want to acknowledge what everyone else already knows. Idiot. I’ll tell Regis, but expect a call.” 

He winced. “I was already expecting one, try to break it to him easy.”

“This is the first year Wesk won’t be there, you know, or Cid. He hates feeling like he is alone.” Clarus was briefly serious. “It’s hard for him. He knows he pushed them away.”

“He didn’t push them away. It’s just the wall…” He sighed. “Look. I’ll do what I can.”

“But the kid comes first.” Clarus finished for him, even though he wasn’t sure that had been what he was about to say. “Regis will understand that, but…Cor, confirmed bachelor or not, you’re our family. So’s the kid, if he’s yours.” 

He winced. “He’s not mine.”

“You’re the only one that still believes that.”


End file.
